A Few Of My Friends

We are lucky that Emma, Ian & Brittany come over once a week for dinner so we get to see how much she is growing and progressing. It is always lots of fun and she makes us all laugh.

Crawling on the table trying to get some dessert from someone, 

anyone, but she is still to young for this sweet stuff

But she is able to use her sippy cup and enjoys the water

This is short tail who comes to visit almost every day

Mr. Cardinal is molting but still comes 

to the deck for some sunflower seeds

Quite fluffy looking from the back

He is getting quite comfortable with me sitting there

Port Burwell, Sept 19-21 2014

What a great weekend! The weather was wonderful and we enjoyed lots of adventures on our last trip to Port Burwell for this year. Friday was warm and we enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner and an evening at the campfire.
  Saturday we traveled up to Talbotville to make a stop at Picard Peanuts. We then ventured on to Pinafore Park in St. Thomas. They have some amazing gardens and I was able to get a few photos of them as well as a pheasant. After leaving the park we headed to Port Stanley for a tour of the town. The water was very rough and there we lots of people out trying there luck at surfing. Not something I would want to be doing considering the waves and undertow. We then traveled through Port Bruce on our trip back to Port Burwell. After a bit of relaxation we enjoyed a delicious dinner which included squash baked on the bbq. It is the best way to enjoy squash. After dinner we headed down to the beach for sunset and spent the rest of the night at our campsite taking in the warmth and glow of the fire.
  Sunday we had a relaxing morning and after packing up we headed down to the beach on a search for Monarch butterflies. We were able to see a few of them as they are migrating south for the winter. I was also able to capture a few pictures of the big dragonflies that very rarely land. Lucky for me there were quite a number of them as they are also making there way south.  I waited patiently and was rewarded with one landing for a few minutes. The water was still very rough so we were not able to enjoy any time wading into it. By about 3:30 the dark clouds started to roll in so we decided it was time to head home. We passed through a bit of rain on our way home and it was raining when we were unpacking but we had a great sunny weekend away.

This butterfly greeted us at the filling station

Feather with water drops in the evening sun

Early sunset from behind the beach grass

There were lots of deer prints on the beach

Sunset from the boardwalk

 

Memories from Pinafore Park

Sunflowers in the garden

Pheasant in his coat of many colours

What an interesting face

Pretty in red

Yellow jacket doing its work

Birds head in the tree bark

Still lots of blooms to come

A little boy with his arm up on the bark

This reminds me of dog and a mouse 

with a dress and hat from a cartoon

Waves crashing on the pier in Port Stanley

A beautiful day with rough waters

Milkweed releasing it seed pods

Large mushroom with oak leaves

Seagull doing the two step at the beach

Rough waters Sunday at the park

Carolina Saddlebags Dragonfly

Quite amazing to see close up

Monarch's on the move to southern warmth

Feduke Campground, Sept. 11-13 2014

What a Party it was!!! I have to send out a special thank you to Bob and Susan for being such great hosts and showing us some of the many sights, shops and eatery's that the area has to offer. They have a beautiful home and the original home is a log cabin that has been added to over the years. It was also wonderful to spend the weekend with Pat & Geoff as well. We had a great weekend and we enjoyed numerous laughs and an abundance of delicious food. It was a wonderful drive along Hwy. 7 as the scenery if so wonderful. We did notice that the trees along the way are turning to there array of fall colours since we were at Bon Echo on Labour Day weekend. Pat and Geoff arrived just 30 minutes before us so they were there with Bob and Susan when we journeyed up the long narrow drive to their home in the country. Bob was quite impressed with Duncan's ability to park our "cottage on wheels". Duncan gave the horseshoe on the garage a rub for good luck as he maneuvered into our site for the "Perth Party". They have a great place just outside town and it was great to see them. We went out for a fabulous dinner on Friday evening and spent the rest of the night chatting and catching up on everyone's news.
  Saturday was cool and wet but that didn't stop us from exploring the area. We first made a stop at the bakery in town and enjoyed a sampling of just a few of the delicious treats before doing a bit of shopping in some of the shops. We then headed to Westport on the Upper Rideau Lake for a late lunch and some more shopping at some of the towns unique shops. The drive along the trip was scenic and we even saw some deer. Once back at our country retreat we enjoyed a wonderful dinner along Pat's yummy pineapple cake for dessert and lots more laughs. At times we laughed so hard my sides were sore. Duncan had the best line of the weekend when he asked Bob if he had a thing for cocks!!! You must understand that they have a number of roosters throughout their house so leave it to Duncan to phrase it that way. We enjoyed another evening of fun and laughter before heading to our cottage for a well deserved sleep.
  Sunday was a nicer day as the sun made an appearance and the warmth was wonderful. I enjoyed some time in the morning walking around and photographing some of the scenery before enjoying a wonderful breakfast. After more wonderful laughs and great times we had to pack up for the long journey home. This was definitely the beginning of an annual get together and we are both looking forward to next years "Perth Party" at the Feduke Campground.
P.S. When I get more photos of our party weekend I will add some to the blog.

Our weekend retreat in the country.

Log walls of the original home

An old roller skate resting in the rock wall

Ian Miller and Big Ben statue at the park in Perth

One of many "cocks" that adorn the house

Chippy checking out the flowers

Geoff the tour guide at Westport in the rain

Lily in the front garden

I found Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail

I bet you are sing it now....lol

I guess Bob isn't using this outhouse

A bit of fall colour in the garden

Susan purchased a new light up "cock" for Bob

One of the resident country cats

She posed like a model while I took a few shots

Look into my eyes.......

Tree art

Hosta flowers in the sunlight

Signs of fall on the fence post

A great country scene

Gladiolus in bloom in the garden

Our Adventures to Thanksgiving

We have booked our ramblings up until Thanksgiving weekend. If you are in the area and would like to visit please drop by.

Sept. 12-14   Feduke Campground, Perth

Sept. 18-21   Port Burwell

Sept. 26-28   MacGregor  Point

Oct. 3-5         Inverhuron

Oct. 9-13       Awenda 

Point Farms, Sept. 5-7 2014

 Hazy, hot and humid was the order of the day until the storm rolled in at supper time. That was just fine with us as we had planned an indoor dinner and a relaxing evening. The storm was not that bad and it was only for a few hours. We lucked out and missed the worst of it.
 Saturday morning when I headed outside I was shocked to find our site covered in tiny mushrooms that had grown overnight. What was more surprising was that but mid afternoon they were all wilted away. We made our usual run into Goderich to get what is most likely our last fill of scrumptious Culbert's donuts for this year. We also walked through the market to pick up a few veggies and did a slow drive along the beach to see the waves after the storm. Now it was time to head up to Pine River Cheese and stock up on some of our favourite cheeses. Unfortunately for me they were all out of Emmental so I picked up a new flavour that we will take with us this weekend on our trip to Perth. I will write an update next week on how the gang enjoyed it. We passed by the pond area to check out the bird activity but again it was void of any action. They must have been hiding or out on there own adventures. After doing a little exploring of the park we had a wee rest before enjoying a wonderful dinner. I headed to the sunset lookout area to watch the magnificent sunset before we set flame to our evening campfire. It was one of the hottest fires we have had and we had to keep our distance. It was by no means a sweater night!!!
 Sunday morning we enjoyed some leisure time at the cottage before enjoying our usual yummy breakfast of sausage, toast and scrambled eggs with mushrooms and peppers. To make it even better we had fresh tomato's from our garden. After cleaning and packing up we parked the motor home and headed into town to check out some of the sights. The water at the beach was very calm and there were many people enjoying the sun and warmth of the day. I went for a walk along the railway trail that crosses over the Maitland River and was able to watch two osprey as they did some afternoon fishing. It was quite amazing to watch one of them struggle to try and get the fish it had caught out of the water. In the end it was to big and it flew away empty clawed. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I was able to get a few photos but I was quite a distance away. It was great to be able to watch them as they soared and fished. This is certainly a memory I will cherish. We headed back to the park to spend some time at the beach soaking up the warm sunny day and listening to the waves roll in before we had to say good-bye to Point Farms until next year. I always enjoy our time spent in "The Prettiest Town in Ontario".

Mushroom surprise in the morning

It amazing how small it started

Fully opened with grains of sand on it

Fallen over with a new one in the background

Underside as it is wilting

Turning black and shriveling up

Waves at the beach in Goderich Saturday Morning

Blue Heron at the pond

Flowering Hibiscus at the cheese store

Close up of the middle of the flower

Cedar-waxwing all fluffed up

Now its doing a little preening

We saw this sign on a car at the beach and we both 

thought it would be a good one for cousin John...lol

Saturday evening sunset

A later view through my eye

Canadian Spear Thistle going to seed

Most of the seed has blown away

Mallard doing a yoga stretch....

Osprey trying to get a fish out but lost the fight

Flying to try and find another fish below

Diving in for a successful catch

I love these wild orchid flowers

One legged stance at the beach

Doing a neck stretch during preening

Ooooops.... I pulled one out

I'll be more careful with this one